Global Tech - Afrikan Heroes

Google, Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom Terminate Huawei’s Android licences — What This Means

May 21, 2019

The trade war between the US and China means that Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China is the latest victim.

Google has just announced it has cut off Huawei’s Android licence, a move which would have serious implications for the manufacturer’s smartphone business.

“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications. For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices,”Google said in a statement which attributes the revocation of the licence to compliance with US government policy

What This Means

The short term implication of this is that Huawei will lose access to Android updates, which means that existing Huawei smartphones will not be able to receive any official Android OS updates going forward.

Huawei will only be able to use the open-source version of Android and will lose access to proprietary apps and services from Google.

While the Chinese manufacturer can still use the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) licence to develop its software, this licence however, does not encompass applications such as Gmail, YouTube, and the Chrome browser.

These applications require a commercial agreement with Google and are available to download through the Google Play Store. These are what Google has blocked.

Intel, Others Follow Suit With Google

Among the four chipmakers, Intel is Huawei’s primary supplier of chips used in its data centers.

Additionally, Intel also provides processors for Huawei’s Matebook series of laptops.

Qualcomm sells it Snapdragon SoCs for various entry-level devices like the Honor 8C as well as some network chips.

Qualcom also licenses aptX codec for Bluetooth audio to Huawei.

Meanwhile, Xilinx provides programmable chips for networking while Broadcom supplies packet switching chips for telecom equipment.

In all, there are more than 30 companies in the U.S. considered as “core suppliers” by the company, and all of them are likely to follow the same route.

Huawei would lose all that bar for green Android with this new development

What This Means For African Businesses

The implication of this move by Google is that African businesses and other western markets using Huawei products could lose access to YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, and other popular apps on their Android smartphones, which are the proprietary rights of Google. This could be devastating for users in the Western markets where Huawei operates.

However, it is still uncertain how Huawei adjust its platform to tackle this the suspension of its Android licence.

Huawei may opt to migrate its devices to its own proprietary operating system, which it confirmed it has been developing in case it loses access to Android.

However, moving to this new operating system would not affect China so much, because most Google applications are banned are already banned there and users have since adopted Chinese equivalents.

Huawei has greatly expanded its presence in the African market, with its devices proving extremely popular due to their lower prices and solid design.

However, regardless of whether Huawei decides to migrate to its backup OS or stay with an open-source version of Android, its Android licence suspension will have a significant impact on Huawei users in South Africa.

This termination may give rise to serious trust issues against the Chinese companies. American spy chiefs in a classified info hinted that “The Chinese government and Communist party pose the greatest long-term threat to US economic and national security. It’s important that US companies, universities, and trade organizations understand fully that threat.”

Image result for smartphone African market share

Huawei Responds To The Ban

In a response, Huawei says

“Huawei has made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry.

Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.

We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.”

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Inside The Fast Changing Global Truck and Shipping Industry Now Valued at $1.2 Trillion

May 20, 2019

Fast technological revolution may mean that the global truck and shipping industry may soon become one of the most valuable online business models in the world.

This would mean that instead of struggling truck drivers who normally spend countless hours on the road making deliveries, and most times charging less, a new generation of truck drivers would mount the roads and steer the best bargain out of their searing sufferings.

Key Insights Into The Global Business of Trucking

The total global revenue for the trucking industry is $1.2 trillion, according to McKinsey & Co. Of this number, $260 billion, representing 20% of the global market share is generated in the US trucking industry.

Trucks deliver two-thirds of all products shipped each year.

The business is highly fragmented, meaning that many players fight for the available market share although publicly traded transportation industry leaders still dwarf the disruptors. C.H. Robinson and XPO Logistics, for instance, maintains between $15 billion and $20 billion in annual sales; UPS has close to $72 billion in revenue.

In a bid to reduce the number of times third party truck drivers run empty trucks, a lot of entrepreneurs and investors have leaped into the market with technology-driven solutions.

A Look Into The Changing World Of Trucking and How Some Start-ups Are Offering a Wider Range of Transportation Services

Convoy:

With the Convoy App, trucks are matched with any available shipments. Drivers can automatically bid for loads, submit their bills and get paid quickly. Shippers on their own can post a job, get real-time quotes and track their shipments.

Convoy was founded by Dan Lewis and Goodale, both former employees of Amazon, where they had a close-up involvement with a massive logistical task. The startup has since reached a $1-billion-plus valuation.

Barely five years old, Convoy has up to 500 employees, raised $265 million and reached a valuation of more than $1 billion. Its investors include Alphabet’s late-stage venture arm CapitalG, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and venture capital firm Greylock Partners.

According to Dan Lewis, CEO and co-founder of Seattle-based Convoy:

“Trucking is the background noise of America. Companies like Unilever and Starbucks are moving thousands of shipments every day. We’re trying to help trucking companies and truck drivers run their businesses more efficiently.”

Lewis said that Convoy might have succeeded because its timing was just right, when smartphones were just starting to gain widespread use among truck drivers.

To Reid Hoffman, a partner at Greylock and co-founder of LinkedIn:

“Convoy’s mission starts with getting to a world with zero waste, addressing the 40% of miles driven without a load.’’

Flexport

The startup is based in San Francisco. It says it is a digital-first freight forwarder. Apart from trucking, the company also manages sea, air and rail delivery and customs processing, using what it calls its “operating system for global trade.”

With over 10,000 clients and suppliers in 110 countries, 1,100 employees and reported revenue of $441 million in 2018, Flexport has raised more than $1.3 billion in several rounds, including a $1 billion round in February led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, that was backed by Saudi Arabia and Dubai. The company’s valuation was reported at $3.2 billion in its last fundraising round.

“We’re doing this by combining technology, access to physical logistics infrastructure, and industry expertise to build a product that allows our customers to plan, move and even finance their cargo more efficiently,” said Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen.

Flexport is Already Quelling the Trade War

With a highly flexible focus, Flexport is exploiting the tension between China and the US over trade relations. Immediately President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on imports from China, Flexport’s cloud-based software and data analytics platform allowed the company to immediately identify customers who would be affected and begin working with them to mitigate losses.

As an example, the startup required an industrial materials client based in Hong Kong to identify cargoes that would be hit by the new tariffs based on the commodity codes. Flexport prioritized those shipments for loading and rerouting just to avoid the tariffs.

The recently introduced OceanMatch, helps customers to identify available space on ocean-bound containers, which ship on average just two-thirds full.

These Startups Are Already Squaring Up Against Industry Giants

Apart from Convoy and Flexport, major industry players such as Uber and Amazon are or have already invaded the market. Uber launched Uber Freight in 2017 and expanded into Europe in March 2019. The company stated in its pre-IPO filing, that its revenues from Uber Freight reached $373 million. Amazon also has confirmed that it is testing the freight-forwarding market.

Convoy’s Lewis says he is not worried.

“It’s a big market. There’s plenty of space for innovation,” he said

Bottom Line

African entrepreneurs and startups may have opportunities here.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Jack Ma Feels Sorry For Countries That Use Laws To Muffle Innovation

May 18, 2019

Jack Ma, the Co-founder of Alibaba, warns countries that tighten their laws to restrict companies’ ability to innovate. According to Jack Ma, such countries may soon be headed to doom. This was his message at the Viva Tech Conference held in Paris, France.

‘‘When faced with problems, Chinese entrepreneurs start to solve the problems, then think about rules and laws,” he said.

‘‘I worry about Europe,” Jack Ma added. “I worry about the worries of Europe. Africa does not worry. Asia does not worry. What are they worried about?

Jack Ma sees a problem with the way Europe is going about regulating its tech startup ecosystem. For that, he said he is worried because Europe is worried about technology and is tightening regulations that restrict companies’ ability to innovate. The European Union for instance last year introduced stringent new data laws targeted at ensuring consumers’ right to privacy. The EU executive, meanwhile, recently published guidelines aimed at maintaining ethics in artificial intelligence (AI).

“If you think the technology revolution is a problem, I’m sorry to say a problem just started. If you think it’s an opportunity, the opportunity just started. The only thing is your mentality. If the mentality is now a worry, you’ll worry all the time,” said Jack Ma told attendees at the Viva Technology conference in Paris Thursday

“Everything they do is full with rules and laws. And everything they think about, they start to worry. When they worry, they make rules and laws.”

Jack Ma already knows that his home country China which is home to a group of three large technology firms often referred to as the BAT — Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent understands this game and is playing it better. China has seen swelling venture capital investment in the tech sector, with Ant Financial raising a record $14 billion funding round from investors in 2018 alone.

This Is Perhaps Why Europe Is Not Doing So Well

Jack Ma hinted that the reason Europe is not doing so well in tech compared to that of the U.S. and China is because of its large regulations.

Jack Ma: Don’t Worry About Regulating AI: It Could Be Used To Catch Thieves

Jack Ma also said there was no need for Europe or other continents to worry about AI.

He said that his firm uses artificial intelligence to detect and trap a lot of criminals.

For example, he referred to his company’s payments platform Alipay. It uses machine learning to discover “cheating” bad actors.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Facebook To Introduce WhatsApp for Payment, Dating Services And eCommerce

May 2, 2019

Mark Zuckerberg does not appear to be stopping with the dream of building a truly lasting business model for Facebook, Inc. From acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram, to building more on the Facebook application itself.

He appears to be up to another game. Mr. Zuckerberg has just announced more lines of innovations for his company. At the F8 Facebook Developer Conference held on April 30 — May 1, 2019.San Jose, CA., we learned the following changes are now in place.

Whatsapp Is Evolving Into A Host For Web Shops Where Consumers Can Buy and Make Payment Immediately

WhatsApp’s current business model is that apart from directly communicating with costumers, the business can also create a profile that has basic information such as hours, location, direction as well as contact information.
With Zuckerberg’s announcement, WhatsApp Business app would now see a major alteration, with a feature called, Product Catalogs. The Product Catalogs will now feature fully functional online stores where customers can not only browse products now but purchase them, too.

“WhatsApp Business is also a big focus. Within a year, millions of small businesses around the world are using this to communicate privately with their customers. And now we’re launching a new feature for this: Product Catalogs, so you’re gonna be able to easily see what is available from a business. And now this is going to be especially important for all of the small businesses out there that don’t have a web presence and that are increasingly using private social platforms as their main way of interacting with their customers ” Mr Zuckerberg said.

The new payment service that will allow people to send money to each other using WhatsApp.

Since WhatsApp Business was launched last year, over five million businesses have been registered on the platform. Users could use the platform to support their customers as well as grow their businesses. WhatsApp’s currently has a total user base of 1.5 billion.

Zuckerberg Plans To Diversify Facebook’s Revenue From Advertising to eCommerce

It seems Mark Zuckerberg is returning to his original business model: that of families and friends interacting with one another, including having private conversations, not the current chaotic order of viral videos and heavily shared public posts.
With the most recent iteration of its app, dubbed FB5, Facebook is now encouraging more communication in private groups, and is also recommending relevant groups to users.

The shift is an effort to make “communities as central as [Facebook] friends”, Mr Zuckerberg said.

Mr Zuckerberg also said that Facebook would remove groups that “exist primarily to violate policies”.

Also See: By 2050, All Cars In Los Angeles Woule Be Electric

Facebook also launched a Messenger desktop app. To this effect, the social network hinted that it would soon allow people to pay directly for goods they buy on Marketplace.

Mr Zuckerberg has already made it clear that he aims to introduce more eCommerce to the platform. Last week, he said users would be able to see products from businesses advertising on Facebook and Instagram, and then buy them directly through Messenger and WhatsApp.

Some experts say this is an attempt to emulate “super apps”, such as China’s WeChat, that allow users to send money, shop, and play games without having to leave their platforms. It also potentially opens up revenue streams beyond advertising.

Facebook said at F8 that it would soon allow people to pay directly for goods they buy on Marketplace — its answer to Amazon or eBay — rather than having to organise payment privately. Mr Zuckerberg also said that Instagram users would be able to buy products directly from so-called influencers online.

“We’re going to have a lot more news in coming years,” Mr Zuckerberg said of the payments and ecommerce push.

Facebook’s ‘Secret Crush’ Will Allow Facebook Users To Select A Handful of Friends Who They Show Romantic Interests In.

Facebook’s dating service, already available in Colombia, Thailand, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico, is ready for expansion into 14 other countries across South America and Asia, according to the social media company. With the new ‘Secret Crush’ feature, a Facebook user who has deep romantic interests in other Facebook users will now be available to select a handful of those friends and they will be notified that an anonymous friend has liked them. If the other friends happen to pick the same person for their crush list, the interest will be revealed to both parties.

Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg is wading through the waters and keeping his dreams alive.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.